Dr Stanley Coren, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and the author of Sleep Thieves, claims we lose one IQ point for every hour of sleep lost the night before, while a recent report in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that a person suffering sleep deprivation can experience mental impairment similar to drinking a glass of wine. Lack of sleep is thought to suppress the immune system, making us vulnerable to infection and metabolic changes that can speed up ageing.

Catching up on sleep at the weekend does not repay the “debt” of lost sleep during the week. It only serves to disrupt our internal body clock and make the alarm on a Monday morning that much more painful.

If you’re needing naps and caffeinated beverages just to get through the day, feel irritable and unrested when waking in the morning, you may be experiencing insomnia. Counselling can not only help you get to the root cause of why you’re having trouble sleeping, it can equip you with techniques to help you ease off into the Land of Nod…with all your IQ points intact!